"MacAllister - 04 - Midsummer's Knight" - читать интересную книгу автора (MacGregor Kinley)

He should have known Simon would make good his word. The man always did.
A wedding.
Stryder laughed again at the thought. Leave it to Simon to concoct such a tale.
He owed his friend a flagon of ale for his inventiveness.
"Stryder?"
Stryder paused halfway across the yard as he heard the hesitant call of an
unfamiliar feminine voice. His eyes focused on an average-looking woman who
appeared to be around Simon's age.
There was something about her that was vaguely familiar, as if they had met once
but he couldn't really recall her.
Her light brown hair was braided with a dark red ribbon. Her body leaned toward
plump, and her eyes were large and brown and possessed a sweet, doelike quality.
She was pleasing enough to look at but was far from the tall, slender maids who
turned his head.
She smiled a welcoming smile at him that gave him the sudden urge to bolt.
Before he could move, she crossed the distance between them and threw herself
into his arms.
"Oh, Stryder!" she cried, her voice thick with a Scots brogue. "You've made me
the happiest woman on earth!"
He stood woodenly as she embraced him. "I beg your pardon? Lady, who are you?"
She laughed at that and pulled back. "Who am I? Oh, Stryder, you are a funny one
to be sure."
She turned back to the man and woman who had been with her. They came to rest
just behind her.
Stryder knew the man, but he hadn't seen him in quite a few years.
Standing two inches taller with a body that had been made to slay any man
foolish enough to get in his way, Sin MacAllister was known more by reputation
than anything else. His slack hair was only slightly shorter than Stryder's, and
the Sin's black eyes watched Stryder and the unknown lady curiously.
"Lord Sin." Stryder said, inclining his head to the earl. "It's been a long
time."
And it had been. In some ways it seemed an eternity. Stryder had just earned his
spurs. During the celebration, Sin had given him sound advice that had saved his
life on more than one occasion.
Let no one at your back.
Sin shook his arm. "Aye, it has. I have to tell you, I was rather surprised when
my cousin told me she was to wed you. It just doesn't seem like the Stryder of
Blackmoor everyone whispers about."
A feeling of dread settled over Stryder.
He wasn't sure what part of that statement shocked him most. He looked back at
the plump woman.
"Beg pardon?" he asked. "Cousin?"
The woman beamed. "Remember? I told you in my letter that my cousin
Caledonia"Чshe indicated the beautiful red-haired lady standing beside SinЧ "had
married Lord Sin. You said in your letter that you and Sin knew each other."
"Your letter?" he repeated in a shocked whisper.
"Aye," she said, her brow puckering with a rown. "Don't you recall it?" She
moved closer to him. "Stryder? Are you all right? You look ill."
He was ill. Sick to his stomach, to be precise. "Excuse me for a moment.
Please?"